BIBLICAL BOTANY – James Duke, PhD

The Biblical World, bridging Africa via Egypt through Israel and Palestine to Europe and the Middle East, is at the crossroads of the African and the European Continent. While few of these species are native to Tropical Africa, many if not most, still flourish today in Egypt and Israel, on both sides of the Suez Canal. I have had the pleasure of seeing both sides of the Suez Canal and Mount Sinai, on the day when it reverted from Israel to Egypt. Herewith I present some old, some, new, some borrowed, some blue observations, on Biblical Botany, especially medicinals, since so much has happened since the 1983 publication of my Medicinal Plants of the Bible, now out of print. I now seek new medicinal information on these old Biblical species. Why? Because more Americans are going to Alternative Practitioners, including religious and herbal advocates, than to Convention Physicians. And many of these Biblical species have proven biological activities which could prove synergistic with the New Age patient’s faith in religion, and with the proven placebo effect.

Some even say that the pyramids owe their existence to the fortitude of the laborers, fortified with garlic and onion, that Cicero’s passion may have been in part due to the l-dopa in the faba bean, that Leah was turned on by the atropine and scopolamine in the roots of the mandrake, and, incredibly, that the apple of the Bible may have in fact been the pomegranate, now reportedly the best plant source of the estrogen called estrone. There’s even the suggestion that Solomon treated boils with fig juice. The proteolytic latex of figs is widely used in the third world, even today, as an antiseptic.

And now for some ABC’s! We here in the New World are often jarred to find that in the Biblical Old World, they mean something differently than we do when they say apple, bean, and corn. The Biblical Apple may have been what we today call apple, or it may have bean, and Corn is what we call wheat.

Perhaps the healthiest recommendation in the Bible is to “eat with bitter herbs”, anticipating a couple millennia the NIH appeal toe at your leafy veggies. The bitter herbs of the Bible have variously been interpreted to include chicory, dandelion, endive, lettuce, sheep sorrel, and watercress. Zohary (1982) adds dwarf chicory and poppy-leaved Reichardia, and by close juxtaposition, rocket. I find it more bitter than the endive, lettuce, and watercress.

It’s clear that believing is part of the healing process. NBC News presented Dr. Herbert Benson, author of Timeless Healing, who said that 95 % of Americans believed in God, and that 99 % of family physicians believed that faith can help heal. Dr. Benson spoke of healing as a three-legged stool, (1) Self (including beliefs, exercise, relaxation, and nutrition, wherein we’ll tour Biblical foods and spices) (2) Drugs (wherein we’ll fit drugs like l-dopa from faba bean, morphine from the opium poppy, and many medicinal herbs) and (3) Surgery.
Israeli Botanical Scholar, Michael Zohary (1982), states rather expressly: “Although healing by plants is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, herbal remedies were numerous and specific… The ultimate healer was God, and prayer was therefore the remedy most often prescribed.” Because mentioning medicinal uses of plant would defy “the belief in God’s exclusive healing power, they were not mentioned in the scripture”. If we can add the real medicinal potential of the biologically active compounds in many of these medicinal plants, to the placebo effect, and to the real belief in God and the Bible, it augurs well for these Medicinal Plants of the Bible.

I’ve sprinkled the following tabulation of the medicinal plants of the bible with what I assess as purely folk medicinal indications (lower case), healing indications (in CAPITAL LETTERS indicating that the plant clearly contains phytochemicals that could help and even more positive indications (in CAPSs and BOLD FONT, indicating that the plant has been proven useful for the indications). I believe that my enumerating these indications (and I have enumerated less than half of the folk indications), I can strengthen the faith systems of some readers, and thereby help them heal themselves. In no way, however, am I recommending self diagnosis and/or self medication. I am enumerating those plants that one or another scholarly authority has considered to be a Biblical Plant, and tabulating a few of the real and folk indications for those herbs. Only your health practitioner can advise you as to whether or not you should use these herbs in your healing. I do.
Except for those species preceded by an asterisk *, all of these entries were included in the out-of-print Medicinal Plants of the Bible (Duke and Duke, 1983), illustrated in part by my wife Peggy. Zohary (1982), for example, added 35 species to my published account of 142 species, including some important medicinal species like Aloe vera, Calotropis procera, Commiphora abyssinica, Curcuma longa, Cymbopogon martinii, Hyoscyamus muticus, Lagenaria siceraria, and Liquidambar orientalis. I have indicated such new inclusions from Zohary with the asterisk*.
Zohary’s book embarrassed me with a student I had been ill-advising that the apple in the Bible was either apricot or pomegranate. For her, with apologies for my relying, too staunchly, on my earlier sources, I quote: “The cultivated flora consisted of plants domesticated in loco or in nearby countries, like wheat, barley, lentil, pea, (I did not have pea in my earlier book either), fig, olive, carob, date palm, sycamore, and plants introduced from fairly remote countries, like the pomegranate, walnut, vine, apple, mulberry, and pistachio. Quite a number of plants have never grown in the Land, but were imported as drugs or spices – like nard, myrrh, galbanum, cinnamon, saunders and the like… The Bible mentions lentils, broad beans, and chick-peas (I missed that one), but bitter vetch and garden peas as well as fenugreek were probably grown too.” (Zohary, 1982)

Israeli authors like Zohary, more familiar with the Israeli Flora and the Bible than am I, should be better equipped to speculate as to which herbs were really meant in some elusive passages. I’m both pleased and displeased to note that Zohary, too, leaves a few problems unresolved, including one involving two major medicinal plants, saffron and turmeric, and one minor medicinal, safflower, all sources of yellow dyes. All three can be grown in warmer regions of Israel, but the turmeric would be difficult. Saffron and safflower would both be easy. Here are points which Zohary makes! “Saffron (in Hebrew, karkom) is mentioned only once in the Bible” Some commentators identify it with turmeric which “was never grown” in this country, others with saffron, which was probably grown only in post-biblical times. There is linguistic support for both possibilities. “There is no doubt that the sown karkom fields mentioned in the Mishnah (of the Talmud) refer to Crocus sativus”. More data he presents point “to the identification of biblical karkom as turmeric and not as crocus. . . But doubt arises when one considers another widely cultivated annual yielding numerous heads of orange flowers.”(safflower, Carthamus tinctorius). Where does this leave me? Should I include just one or all three of the candidates for the one mention of saffron in the Bible? From the medicinal point of view, turmeric seems even more important than saffron, which appears even more important than safflower. Ditto from the likelihood point of view, based on the views of Zohary.

Zohary’s account of the Thorns & Thistles reiterates the problems with identifying modern botanical species in historical scriptures written by non-botanists. “More than seventy species of spiny plants grow among the flora of Israel and more than twenty are mentioned in the Scripture. No other group of plant names in the Bible is so frequently misidentified and arbitrarily translated. . . No thorn name in any version of the Bible is reliably translated.”
*ABIES CILICICA (Ant. & Ky.) Carr. “Cilician Fir” “Berosh (Biblical)” “They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir. “Ezekiel 27:3-5.

*ALCEA ROSEA L. (Syn.; ALCEA SETOSA (Boiss.) Alef.) “Hollyhock” “Purslane (Biblical)” “Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the slime of the purslane?” Job 6:6-7 Cold; COUGH; Cramps; Edema; SORE THROAT; ULCERS.

*ALOE VERA (L.) Burm. f. “Barbados Aloe” “Aloes” (ALOE FAMILY) “Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bring a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundreds pound weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews..” John 19: 39-40. BURNS; CANCER; CONSTIPATION.

ANEMONE CORONARIA L. “Windflower”, “Anemone,” “Lily of the Field”, “Poppy Anemone”, “Garden Anemone” (Biblical) (BUTTERCUP FAMILY) “…Consider the lilies of the field, how the grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these…” Matthew 6. Leprosy; malaria; tuberculosis; tumors.

BOSWELLIA CARTERI Birdwell “Olibanum” “Frankincense” (Biblical) (COPAL FAMILY) “…Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrhh and aloes, with all the chief spices…” Song of Solomon 4. Bilharzia: Dysentery; Fever; Gonorrhea; Polyps.

*BOSWELLIA SACRA Flueckiger “Frankincense” (COPAL FAMILY) Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pourre frankincense. . . and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.” Exodus 30: 34-5.

BRASSICA NIGRA (L.) Koch “Black Mustard” (MUSTARD FAMILY) “…The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs…” Matthew 13. Arthritis; BRONCHITIS; CANCER; COLDS; Pleurisy; Pneumonia; Rheumatism.

*CALOTROPIS PROCERA (Ait.) Ait. f. “Giant Milkweed” “Apple of Sodom” “Mudar” “Osher”(Arabic) “…(I) in consequence of which there are still the remainders of that divine fire, and the traces or shadows of the five cities are still to be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their fruits, which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands they dissolve into smoke and ashes.” Josephus, Jewish Wars Book IV 8:4. Asthma; Cardiopathy; Cough; Dysentery; Elephantiasis; Scabies; Sunstroke; Ulcers.

*CEPHALARIA SYRIACA (L.) Schrad. “Syrian Scabious” “Weeds” (TEASEL FAMILY) “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” Matthew 13: 24-5.

CERCIS SILIQUASTRUM L. “Judas Tree” “Redbud” (LEGUME FAMILY) “…And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself…” Matthew 27. Catarrh; Headache.

*CHRYSANTHEMUM CORONARIUM L. “Crown Daisy” “Garland” (ASTER FAMILY) “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. James I: 9-10. AIDS; DYSPEPSIA; Gonorrhea; Itch; MELANOMA; Worms.

COMMIPHORA AFRICANA Engl. “African Myrrh” “Bdellium” (COPAL FAMILY) “…out of the ground made the Lord God to grow evey tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; …there is bdellium…” Genesis 2. Cramps; Dyspepsia; Fever; Hepatitis; Ophthalmia.

COMMIPHORA MYRRHA (Nees) Engl. “Myrrh” (COPAL FAMILY) “…six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women…” Esther 2. Bronchorrhea; GINGIVITIS; Leucorrhea; SORE THROAT; STOMATITIS; Worms; WOUNDS.

CONIUM MACULATUM L. “Hemlock” “Poison Hemlock” (CELERY FAMILY)…judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field…Hosea 10 “…for you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock…” Amos 6. Asthma; Bronchitis; Erysipelas; Insomnia; POISON.

*ERUCA SATIVA L. “Garden Rocket” “Oroth (Biblical)” “Gargir (Arabic)” “One of them went out into the field to gather oroth (herbs), and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage, not knowing what they were. And they poured out for the men to eat.” II Kings 4: 39-40.

*FERULA GUMMOSA Boiss. “Galbanum” (CELERY FAMILY) “I grew tall … like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth the aroma of spices, and like choice myrrh I spread a pleasant odor, like galbanum, onycha and stacte, and like the fragrance of frankincense in the tabernacle.” Ecclesiasticus 24: 14-5.

FICUS CARICA L. “Fig Tree” (MULBERRY FAMILY) “…And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil and he recovered…” II Kings 20. CANCER; LEUCODERMA; RINGWORM; Thrush; Wounds.

*HAMMADA SALICORNICA (Moq.) Iljin “Hammada” “Lye”(Biblical) “Rimth” (Arabic) (LAMBSQUARTER FAMILY) “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me…” Jeremiah 2:22.

HYACINTHUS ORIENTALIS L. “Hyacinth”, “Lily of the Valley (Biblical)” (LILY FAMILY) “…I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys…” Song of Solomon 2. Dysuria; Jaundice Leucorrhea.

*HYOSCYAMUS AUREUS L. “Golden Henbane” “Shikkeron” (Biblical) (POTATO FAMILY) “The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends round to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel.” Joshua 15: 11. NARCOTIC.

*HYOSCYAMUS MUTICUS L. “Henbane” “Shikkeron”(Biblical) (POTATO FAMILY) “The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends round to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel.” Joshua 15: 11. NARCOTIC.

(WALNUT FAMILY) “…I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded…” Song of Solomon 6. Alopecia; Cancer; Flu; Gingivitis; Halitosis; Headache.

*LIQUIDAMBAR ORIENTALIS Miller “Storax” “Sweet Gum” “Balm” (Biblical) (STORAX FAMILY) “…Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.” Genesis 37: 25.

ORIGANUM MARU L. “Egyptian Marjoram” ” Hyssop (Biblical)” (MINT FAMILY) “…He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. I Kings 4:33.” COLD; COLIC; Polyps; RHEUMATISM; Sprain; Swelling.

*PAPAVER RHOEAS L. “Common Poppy”, “Flanders Poppy”, (POPPY FAMILY) “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field…The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.” Isaiah 40: 6-8.

*PINUS PINEA L. “Stone Pine” “Holm” (Biblical). “He cuts down cedars; of he chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.” Isaiah 44:14.

*SCOLYMUS MACULATUS L. “Golden Thistle”, “Brambles” (ASTERACEAE) “…As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.” Song of Solomon 2: 2.

*SCIRPUS LACUSTRIS L. “Lake Rush” “Agmon (Hebrew) “Reed” (Biblical) “So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branches and reed in one day.

*SENNA ALEXANDRINA Miller (Syn. CASSIA SENNA L). “Alexandrian Senna” “Indian Senna” “Senna” “Burning Bush (Biblical) (LEGUME FAMILY) “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning. . .” Exodus 3:2. CONSTIPATION; Cramps; Gastritis.

STYRAX OFFICINALIS L “Stacte (storax)” (STORAX FAMILY) “…Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume…” Exodus 30.(How’s that for an early perfume recipe) Arthritis; BRONCHITIS; Cancer; Cold; Hysteria; Sores; Spermatorrhea.

*SUEDA SPP “Sea Blight” “Shahor”=Black (Hebrew)” “Ashhur” (Biblical) ” Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives.” I Chronicles 4:5.

*ZILLA SPINOSA (L.) Prantl “Spiny Zilla” “Silon=Thorn'”(Bible) (MUSTARD FAMILY) “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt.” Ezekiel 28: 24.

*ZYGOPHYLLUM DUMOSUM Boiss. “Bean Caper” “Elim”(Biblical) “And they set out from Marah, and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees…” Numbers 33: 9.
Source: Duke, J. A. 1983. Medicinal Plants of the Bible. (Illustrated by Peggy K. Duke) Out of print Trado-Medic Books, Buffalo, NY. 233 pp.